NASA on Friday named nine astronauts for the first manned space launches from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's announcement signals a milestone in the U.S. space program, with its shift to the private sector for ferrying cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is racing to pull his private space company out of start-up mode and move into production amid signals that his firm's heavy rocket set for lift-off in 2020 may slip behind schedule, according to people familiar with the project. Blue Origin has added hundreds of engineers over the past three years and continues to ramp up in an expansion that one employee described as "hyperbolic." The Kent, Washington-based company is looking to double its current workforce to around 3,000 employees over the next two to three years, a top customer told Reuters.

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